


Welcome, Player 3

by Jasper Kirby (blakesaregrates)



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Ezra is pan, F/M, I call them boyf riends +1 bc im creative, Jeremy/Brooke and Jeremy/Christine is only mentioned, M/M, Michael is So Gay, Multi, Tag spam, The first paragraph, also Ezra is Player 3, boyf riends +1, boyf riends - Freeform, canon compliant for like, eventual poly relationship, eventual smut probably, jeremy is bi, just gay, let Michael Mell be happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 22:32:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18669697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blakesaregrates/pseuds/Jasper%20Kirby
Summary: Whilst Jeremy is blocking Michael before The Play, Michael ends up meeting the new boy, Ezra Garcia, and becoming close friends with him. Too close.What will happen when he falls for Ezra whilst still crushing majorly on Jeremy? Will Jeremy's feelings for Michael change after the Squipcident? Will the boys ever recover their friendship?...the tags sorta give it away. I know OCs are shitty because it's hard to understand them like the author can, but if you wouldn't mind giving this piece of shit a shot, I'd be grateful. Current rating for swearing and angst, but it'll probably go up in future chapters.





	1. Chapter 1

Jeremy had been _ignoring him_ all day, and Michael had no fucking clue why. Had he done something? Was it cause he’d gone home from the mall without him? If so, sure, he could understand Jeremy being a little upset, but not blanking him for a whole day: Jeremy had disappeared and wasn’t answering his cell phone, so what was Michael supposed to do?

Confused and annoyed, Michael planned to go home, get high and play some video games until Jeremy decided to explain what was wrong. With that thought in mind, he left his extra English lesson and headed for his locker.

Methodically, he put all of his books into his locker, taking out any that he would need for homework. Just as he was closing his locker and scrolling through his phone for a good song to listen to on the way to his car, he heard a familiar voice behind him that would normally fill him with joy, but now it froze him right to the core.

“Michael?” It was Jeremy. He glanced up, surprised and still annoyed. He couldn’t do this right now - he needed to cool off and get high before they talked about this.

He had started to walk away when Jeremy spoke up again. “Oh my God, I’m so glad to see you!”

This had to be a fucking joke. What was Jeremy doing? Was he _mocking_ him?

“Really?” he scoffed, turning around fully to look at his Player 2. “So you haven’t been avoiding me _all day_?”

Jeremy had the fucking audacity to look shocked. “What are you talking about? I haven’t even seen you since-” he stopped, mid-sentence, and sharply turned his head to look in a different direction. And there he stood, frozen in place with a terrifyingly strange look on his face. It was...it was fucking freaky.

“Jeremy? Why are you standing there all creepy and stuff?” Michael rolled his eyes, folding his arms. He doesn’t have time for this.

When Jeremy doesn’t move, even after a full minute, he actually starts to worry slightly. There’s clearly something wrong with his best friend...is this why he’s acting weird?

“Jeremy? Seriously, what’s up with you?  You’ve been acting shady ever since…since…” Michael went quiet as his brain started to put things together. Oh my God...that stupid pill thing... “It worked, didn’t it? Jeremy! That’s amazing! We gotta test it, we gotta celebrate, we gotta– get stoned in my basement!”

What a great way to talk about it all! Excited beyond belief, Michael grinned at Jeremy, turning to quickly head to his car.

But...if it had worked, and Jeremy was cool, and nothing was wrong…...why had he been ignoring him? Come to think of it, why wasn’t Jeremy walking with him right now- wait-

He turned back, a soft frown on his face. “Jeremy? Are you coming?”

Jeremy broke out of his trance, staring directly at Michael. It chilled the other boy to his core. “ _Optic Nerve Blocking: On._ ”

“Jeremy? What-”

But Jeremy had quickly turned on his heel, walking in the opposite direction of Michael, face cold and body language uninviting.

Michael Mell isn’t an idiot - his best and only friend had just asked the supercomputer in his brain to block Michael from his sight or whatever. And boy did that fucking hurt.

Refusing the acknowledge the shiny wetness to his eyes, he turned and rushed to the parking lot, desperate to just get away from everything. So desperate in fact, that he didn’t notice the taller figure stood near the door until he ran right into them like some dumb, cliché movie.

Face flushed red with residual anger and now embarrassment (and a little bit of fear), Michael stumbled back, muttering a jumbled apology. The taller person had dropped their book, now bending down to grab it.

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t have been stood in the doorway like that- oh, hey! Aren’t you in my science class?”

Michael was staring. This boy was _gorgeous_. Big, brown eyes, golden skin and a winning smile, with dark curly hair adorning his head. He’s tall - taller than Michael - and slim but it’s clear he’s got some muscles underneath that t-shirt and shirt combo. Fuck, Michael is _so_ gay.

“I-I uh, y-yeah,” he mumbles, but he’s bullshitting. He has no fucking clue who this angel is - he only ever talks to Jeremy and, well, that hadn’t happened today.

The guy flashes him another brilliant smile, and Michael feels his knees go weak. “Awesome! Your name’s Michael, right?”

Michael is definitely blushing again, but he’s also slightly touched; no one ever bothered to remember his name. He was just ‘headphones kid’ or ‘red hoodie guy’ or whatever insult the bullies wanted to throw at him. He nodded dumbly.

“That’s a cool name,” the guy says genuinely, and Michael definitely feels something jolt in his stomach. It’s the same feeling he gets whenever he sees Jeremy’s real, full smile, or when he makes Jeremy laugh so hard that the lanky boy starts crying. “My name’s Ezra. I’m uh, I’m kinda new,” he laughs, and Michael finds himself laughing along too.

“O-oh yeah? Where’d you move from?” How he’s making casual conversation, he’ll never know, but this Ezra guy was having a strange effect on him.

“Florida.” Ah, well that explains the perfect golden tan. “My mom’s job changed and we had to relocate. We moved in a few days ago,” Ezra explains, hugging his book to his chest as he leans against the wall. The title catches Michael’s eye - “El Señor de Los Anillos 1: La Comunidad del Anillo”.

“You speak Spanish?” he blurts out, then covers his mouth with his hand (or rather, his sleeve). Nevermind the fact it’s Lord of the Rings so the guy must be a total nerd too.

Ezra frowns, then looks down at his book and realises what he means. “Oh yeah! My mom is Spanish and my Dad is half-Mexican, so I’m bilingual. I like to read challenging books to keep on top of my skills,” he says as he examines the book in his hand. “My surname’s Garcia,” he adds with a smile.

“That...yeah, that’s pretty Spanish,” Michael laughs awkwardly, smiling and rubbing the back of his neck.

But then, the doors open and he sees the one person he really doesn’t want to see right now: Jeremy, arm in arm with Brooke Lohst, headed for the parking lot. Michael tenses and then turns his back on the pair to look back at Ezra.

The other boy is frowning but doesn’t push it. “I take it you speak Spanish too?” Michael nods, feeling a cold chill run down his spine at the thought of his best friend.

“Uh yeah, I’m half Ecuadorian and half Filipino, so I speak Spanish and Tagalog,” he admits with a shy smile and a shrug.

Ezra’s eyes widen and his smile grows. “Dude, that’s awesome! We should totally hang out sometime and speak some Spanish- uh, I mean only if you want to, that is,” he quickly supplies the last bit, seeming to realise how quickly he was moving.

Michael just keeps smiling at him. “Sure. Uh, h-here’s my number,” he mumbles, pulling his phone out of his pocket. The two swap numbers, and then Michael spots the time. “Sorry, I gotta get home or my Ma will absolutely make me miss dinner,” he says with a slight laugh. “It was, uh, great to talk to you though?” He cringes as he realises it sounds more like a question.

“You too, Michael. See you tomorrow,” Ezra replies and grins back, before opening up his book and continuing to lean against the wall. Michael bites his lip, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach as he heads to his PT Cruiser.

The drive home doesn’t take long, and there’s a little bit of a wait for dinner, so he goes down to his room and sits on his bed. He opens up a new message, the contact name simply reading ‘Ezra Garcia (School)’, and watches the cursor blink as he thinks about this new boy.

Michael Mell had been crushing on Jeremy Heere ever since they were 11 and he had started to notice the boys in their class rather than the girls. As they’d grown up, the crush had only grown as their friendship got stronger and stronger. 12 years of being best friends, 6 of which were Michael also being in love, and Michael had never really felt that connection with anyone else. Sure, he found guys attractive, and he definitely had his celebrity crushes, but no one had ever been able to make Michael feel as weak and giggly as Jeremy did. Except for Ezra.

But he’d literally only spoken to the boy for 10 minutes, surely he wasn’t developing a crush _already_? Yet that little pessimistic voice in his head was telling him that Jeremy had dropped him forever, so why shouldn’t he move on?

Confused and conflicted, Michael locked his phone and dropped it onto his bed with a sigh. He could figure it out later.

-

A car horn beeps. “C’mon, Ezzie, we’re getting froyo!”

Ezra smiled to himself, tucking his bookmark into place as he looked up to see his little sister, Ivy, leaning out of the car window. Putting his book in his bag, he walks over to the car, greeting his dad as he opens the passenger door, watching Ivy scramble into the backseat.

“How was school, kiddo?” his dad asked as he set off down the road.

“Good,” he replied, leaning against the window. “I spoke to that guy in my science, the one with the headphones? He seemed pretty down today, and then he literally bumped into me at the door,” he said with a happy smile to himself.

He heard Ivy giggle from the backseat. “Aww! Ezzie’s got a crush!”

“I do not, you little monster!” he argued, but it was all in jest. Truthfully, Michael was pretty cute and was definitely his type. He just hoped they could get to know each other better.

“Ivy, stop teasing your brother,” their dad scolds with his own playful smile. “Do you, though?”

“Dad!” Ezra whines, leaning his head against the cool glass of the window.

The man chuckles, glancing away from the road to his eldest child. “Sorry, Ez, but it would be nice to see you in a happy relationship again. But there’s no pressure to find someone,” he adds on the end.

That was one of the best things about his parents: they supported him no matter his choices, and they never pushed him into anything.

Ezra sighed but smiled to himself. “Thanks, dad. Can we go get Froyo now?”

“Sure thing, slugger.”

The drive was another 10 minutes, but whatever silence there should’ve been was quickly filled by Ivy chatting non-stop about her day at school. By the time they’d pulled up, she’d talked herself into yawning, only perking up once they were inside and looking at all the different flavours.

“You can have two scoops today, just because you’ve handled the move so well,” their dad said, handing Ezra a ten dollar bill for the both of them. Ivy cheered, running off to the counter, leaving Ezra to follow her.

Ezra glanced over his shoulder, watching their dad step outside to seemingly answer a phone call. He sighed, picking Ivy up and sitting her on his hip - “You’re getting big, twiglet.” They ordered their froyo, he paid, and they went to sit in a small booth.

“It’s rude to be on your phone at the table,” Ivy said, practically shovelling the frozen treat into her mouth. Strawberry and vanilla were always her choices.

“You’re gonna get brain freeze,” he retorted, only briefly glancing up from his phone. It was actually open on a blank new message screen as he debated texting Michael. He took a small spoonful of his own dessert: coffee and salted caramel.

Ivy pouted, slowing the shovelling down slightly because she knew he was right. “ _Mama_ said it’s rude to be on your phone at the table!” She repeated, staring at the offending item in his hand.

Sighing, Ezra put the device down anyway. “I’m pretty sure she means the dinner table at home but whatever. Have you made any friends at school?”

“Oh yeah, tonnes!” She beamed, launching into a little monologue about all of her new classmates. In all honesty, Ezra was only half listening, mostly just watching how happy she was. The move was good for all of the family, especially his little sister.

Their mom’s company had offered the position change (and subsequent location change) to her about two months ago, and she’d been deliberating on it for a while. But when Ivy had come forward and admitted she was having trouble in her classes, or namely, trouble with some not-so-nice girls, they made a family decision that change was good and they would move to Middleborough, New Jersey with their mom accepting the new job. And honestly? Ezra couldn’t say he was happy back in Florida either - his last couple of relationships had ended badly (very badly in the most recent case) and he just needed to get out of that school.

So here they are, living in New Jersey, and things honestly couldn’t be better. Ivy is happy in her new school, their mom is earning more money, and there’s a cute boy in his science class that gave him his number. Speaking of…

Their dad has just walked back in the door, smiling at Ivy, so Ezra takes the time to pull his phone out. As he unlocks it, it opens on the blank new message to Michael so he quickly types him a brief, general text.

_Hey! It was great to talk to you today and finally get to know you. Maybe we can talk some more after science tomorrow? See you then!_

He pressed send before he could overthink it and change his mind, shoving his phone back in his pocket before his sister caught him.

-

The text tone pulls Michael out of his thoughts, sitting up on his bed and grabbing his phone. The message causes the corners of his lips to tug up into a smile despite his over-anxious brain thinking about Jeremy.

_it was great talking to u too, see u tomorrow_

Slightly more relaxed than he was just a few moments before, Michael left his phone on his desk as he went upstairs to have dinner with his moms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ezra is reading “Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring”.


	2. Chapter 2

Come morning, Michael feels sick. Jeremy had _blocked_ him yesterday, whatever that meant. (Is it even possible to block specific things from your eyesight?) Would he still be blocked today? Jeremy hadn’t texted him at all, so Michael just sort of assumed he didn’t want a ride to school that morning. Quiet and reserved, Michael politely declined breakfast with his moms and just went straight out to his car, driving to school in eerie silence.

-

Ezra awoke to the same thing he usually did: his mom moving about downstairs as she gets ready for work, the sound of his dad in the shower and his little sister, Ivy, knocking on his bedroom door to make sure he’s awake.

“Ezzieeee!” She calls, knocking extra loud this time. He groaned out his response, looking over to the alarm clock on his bedside table. 7:38. Okay, in all fairness, he _had_ slept in.

“Yes, Ivy, I’m up!” He sighed, running a hand over his face. At least she stopped knocking on his door.

Rolling out of bed, Ezra looked in the mirror on the back of his bedroom door: his hair is a tangled mess, so he gives up and ties it back. He doesn’t need to shave just yet, and he could get away with not showering until tonight, so he just pulls his jeans and a clean t-shirt on, spraying himself with deodorant and a decent amount of cologne.

In the kitchen, Ivy has poured a bowl of cereal for herself and put some toast in for him. She’s sat at the table, pouring milk into her bowl and munching on it happily.

Ezra yawns, picking up the hairbrush from the table. “How do you want it today?”

“Uhhhh, the two half Dutch braids!” Ivy giggles as Ezra starts to brush through her golden, wavy locks. He’s always been jealous of her hair: she only has the loosest of curls ever, beautiful hair that flows over her shoulders and doesn’t tangle easily. Ezra can’t even _brush_ his hair without it becoming a horrible, frizzy mess.

He pauses after one braid to get his toast, buttering it and taking a few bites before going back and finishing Ivy’s hair.

Their mom leaves at some time during all of this, coming in to grab her lunch, kiss them both on the head (Ezra has to duck down for her to be able to reach) and wish them a good day at school. Not long after, their dad comes into the kitchen too, tying his tie as he searches for his shoes.

“By the TV,” Ezra supplies as he packs Ivy’s lunch into her bag.

“Thanks, son,” their dad replies, disappearing in the direction of the lounge.

Ezra grabs his own backpack, making sure he has everything before ushering his sister to the front door. “C’mon twig, we gotta go.”

“Bye, dad!” Ivy calls as they leave the house.

“Have a good day at school, you two!” is the response from inside the house.

And that’s how their day starts, as it usually does. Ivy chats _non-stop_ on the walk to her elementary school, Ezra just making general noises of agreement or disagreement. He adores his sister, but he hates mornings.

“See you later, squirt. I’ll come and pick you up, okay? Wait for me inside the building, don’t come outside until I’m here. ¿Comprendes?”

Ivy nods, beaming. “¡Sí!” She giggles before running off inside the gates and into the building. Ezra shakes his head, smiling fondly before he remembers he has to get to school, so he gets going.

-

Of all the things he needed right now, double science first thing was not on Michael Mell’s list. Not only because he sucked at science, but also because he usually sat next to Jeremy and well… that clearly wasn’t happening. He’d gone to their usual meet-up spot that morning to see if his best friend had changed his mind, but nothing. He hadn’t even shown up to get his textbooks from his locker.

Could Michael even call him his best friend anymore?

As he walks into Physics, he feels his heart shatter even more to see Jeremy sat at the ‘popular’ table with Brooke Lohst, Chloe Valentine, Jake Dillinger and- fucking _Rich Goranski_. The guy that got them into this whole mess. Fucking awesome.

Sitting down heavily in his usual seat, now alone, Michael sighs and puts his head in his hands.

“Hey, Michael,” comes a soft voice from behind him. He looks up and meets the beautiful eyes of the beautiful boy he met yesterday.

“Oh, h-hey, Ezra,” he mutters, tilting his head. “What’s up?”

Ezra shrugs. “You mind if I sit here?”

“Huh? O-Oh! N-no, go ahead,” he stutters out, cursing himself for being so awkward.

The taller boy just smiles, sitting in Jeremy’s seat next to him. The class then begins so they sit in silence, letting the teacher talk and explain the work. As the worksheets are being handed out, Ezra leans on one hand, looking at Michael. “So… you and your friend had a falling out?”

Not what he wants to talk about right now.

“Something like that. What about you? Made any friends in your other classes?”

Surprisingly, Ezra shakes his head. “I’m not really the socialising type. Small groups of close friends are my thing,” he shrugs. Michael looks at him, then smiles slightly.

“Y-yeah. Me too.”

The two share a smile, before realising where they are - Michael more so realising he was just staring dreamily into Ezra’s eyes. Blushing, both boys turn back to look at their work.

Michael actually gets the work done for once. Whether that’s because Jeremy isn’t there to distract him, or because Ezra actually seems to be smart and doesn’t mind helping Michael every now and then, he doesn’t know. And Ezra’s not just _giving him the answers_ , either, he’s actually taking the time to explain the question and help Michael navigate his way to the right answer. Which is honestly kind of refreshing; makes him feel smarter.

-

The bell rings, and the whole class immediately gets to their feet and starts shoving books in their bags, shuffling for the door. Ezra realises it’s now or never.

“Hey, Michael,” he calls, grabbing the shorter boy’s arm gently.

He turns around, looking up at Ezra. “Y-yeah?”

“I was just wondering if I could sit with you at lunch? I saw you sat alone yesterday, and I don’t really have a designated spot yet, so…” he trailed off, shrugging.

Michael looks surprised, blinking owlishly, but he quickly nods, a small smile on his face. “U-uh, sure! I mean, yeah, totally, just...come find me, I guess.”

Ezra grins back at him. “Awesome. See you then!”

He misses the blush on Michael’s face as he heads for his next class.

-

And, just as he’d said, Ezra showed up to Jeremy and Michael’s table about 5 minutes after Michael sat down, tray in hand and a big smile on his face. “Hey!” he greets, sitting down.

Michael focuses on Ezra’s face rather than the back of Jeremy’s head as he sits at the popular table a few rows over, Brooke in his lap. “Hey.”

Ezra grabs the bottle of water on his tray, opening it and taking a few sips. The way his Adam’s apple bobs when he swallows is sinfully mesmerising, not unlike the way Jeremy’s does-

He doesn’t realise Ezra is talking until he hears his name being called. “Sorry, what?”

Ezra just laughs softly. “I _said_ , ‘what class did you just have?’”

Michael is definitely blushing. “O-oh, sorry. I uh, I just had English.”

“Ah cool! I just had French, totally boring. I’m already bilingual, why do I need another language?”

Michael snorts, nodding. “Yeah, that’s why I took Spanish.”

“What?! That’s cheating!” Ezra laughs, and it makes his chest feel fuzzy and weird.

“No it’s not - the school lets me, and my teacher knows I’m already fluent.”

“...Touché.”

-

The rest of the week goes much like that day, with the two boys working together in science and spending their lunch periods together.

But every day, Ezra sees Michael get more and more...well, depressed. He’ll often space out, sometimes staring at nothing, and other times staring at the boy Ezra had seen him with when he arrived last week.

Whatever’s going on with them and upsetting Michael, Ezra will figure it out, because he wants to see his new friend (and crush) happy and smiling all the time.

So he puts his plan into action.

Friday lunch, he sits down at the table where Michael’s sat, sipping his slushie - where does he even get them from during the day? - and drums his fingers on the table. “Hey, not to be too forward or anything, but do you wanna hang out sometime this weekend?"

Michael looks up, raising an eyebrow. “You wanna hang out? With me?”

“Of course!” Ezra smiles, nodding.

Michael looks shocked. “Oh, um, sure? My moms probably won’t mind if you wanna come over to my place, or if you wanted to go to the mall or something, I can drive…”

Ezra just grins at him. “Sounds good, you can come over to my place if that’s better for you? My parents are always saying I need to make new friends,” he laughs.

Michael still seems surprised, but a small smile is starting to grow on his face, which Ezra counts as a success. “Sure. U-uh, you can just text me your address. And uh, when you want me there. Just whatever…” he shrugs.

He shrugs one shoulder back, feeling a dumb smile lingering on his face. “Awesome.” **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are greatly appreciated, y'all can even tell me how much you hate it!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this mess this far.


End file.
